Trends in Japan

Tsundere lottery game is mean to you for fun

Written by: Rebecca Milner on July 5, 2008 at 3:20 am | In Fashion & Lifestyle Trends | 1 Comment

We noticed Tsundere among other otaku female icons like the maid and the faithful little sister in the Puchi Moe unlimited bubble wrap—in fact, hers was the first to sell out. We hear she even has her own café.

Now a new lottery game features her tough but sweet visage and the voice of famous anime voice artist Rie Kugimiya.

The slots-like game, from game rental company Techno Top, is a standing machine of the kind that shows up at events and festivals. The gist of the game is to line up the animated spinning dials by pressing the buttons below each one, which we’re pretty sure has much more to do with randomness than good timing. But that’s beside the point, the appeal is in the character tie-in.

When the player misses the Tsundere character becomes tsuntsun and when the player hits the mark she becomes deredere.

In case this is new to you, to be tsuntsun means to be cold and aloof and to be deredere means to be affectionate. Someone who is tsundere is often hot and cold, and these are just the qualities that the character embodies, which is thought to be moe (cute in an otaku kind of way).

Just in case you were wondering what the next big thing is after maids!

Tags: anime, moe, otaku, tsundere
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Marketing & Ad Trends, Press coverage

School boy cafes, maid casinos the latest cosplay offerings

Written by: Rebecca Milner on February 8, 2008 at 8:19 am | In Fashion & Lifestyle Trends | 4 Comments

School girls have a well-documented following, but what about the boys? It turns out that school boys are building up a following of their own: since opening last fall, the school boy themed café, Edelstein, has been filled to capacity every weekend and has seen repeat customers visit upwards of 40 times in just a few short months.

Regular customers become “students” and can have their picture taken with the cute young male waiters in school uniforms (which definitely makes up for the $5 coffee). Rest-assured the hiring policy ensures that all of the waiters are over 18.

Due to the popularity, would-be customers book a 90-minute “lunch time” or “bar time” (remember it’s a fantasy!) in advance. Naturally, Valentines’ Day is already fully booked.

The café is located in Harajuku, making it a convenient shopping stop-over for the women in their 20s and 30s that the café is targeting. The interior is designed to resemble a German boarding school, but is more reminiscent of settings from manga series of the same theme aimed at girls and young women.

In other cosplay entertainment news, the original maid café, in an effort to keep its stake in the market, is diversifying to include “maid karaoke” and a “maid casino.”

With the cosplay market seemingly here to stay and intent on growing, its anyone’s guess what the next innovation will be. Any wagers?

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